IN THE near future, the former Freeport Lakeland school building will no longer be a possession of the Harrison Hills School District.

The Harrison Hills BOE, at its first meeting of the new year, opted to put the building up for auction. It is a move we believe is a financially prudent one.

The school board’s decision to put the structure on the auction block came after Freeport Township rejected the school board’s conditional offer of the building and 19 acres of property for $1. District Superintendent Dr. George Ash originally proposed the auction route.

We commend the board for its offer to sell the building for $1 to the local group. It was a community-friendly plan, which may have helped Freeport-area residents but did little to help district coffers.

With the $1 offer rejected, Ash’s original auction proposal was the wise way to go in order to recoup some much-needed revenue. The board’s approval of the auction trumped a proposal from a Freeport youth group which entertained hopes of buying the building and transforming it into a charter school, eventually housing students in K-12.

We see no viable reason for the establishment of such a school in the Freeport area. Such a move would only prove another thorn in the side of the Harrison Hills School District, as a charter school would draw more students away from the district.

The Freeport area is already non Harrison Hills friendly. Some 326 students in the aforementioned locale are in the Harrison Hills School District, but some 230 of the students go to schools outside the district. A charter school would only do more damage.

An auction is the proper way to proceed. Once auctioned off, the Harrison Hills School District will cease to have tax and maintenance fee burdens with the building, while also gaining some money in return.

Dr. Ash and board of education members draw our kudos for doing what’s best for the school district.